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Mark your calendars Redskins Nation its official, the 2012 NFC East champions will open the 2013 slate against NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football at FedExField. The opener is one of five primetime affairs for the Burgundy and Gold.

And yes its the same Eagles who the Redskins swept during the 2012 campaign including a 31-6 victory at FedExField that jump started the Redskins epic run to the postseason.

With plenty of storylines to dig into, it only seems fitting to do a way too early preview of a game that is still months away.

Here are some topics to follow that night:

The Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles have met 156 times dating back to 1934 when the Burgundy and Gold beat the Eagles in a defensive contest, 6-0.

Don’t expect such a low scoring game this time around, though.

With Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris leading the charge for the Redskins and former Virginia Tech star Michael Vick and 2011 All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy taking command of the Eagles offense, there’s not telling how many big plays could come on offense that night.

Remember last year the highly talked about matchup between Griffin III and Vick never came to fruition as the Eagles gunslinger was sideline both times the teams took the field.

The waiting game to see these two human highlight reels battle for a number one spot on top play countdowns could finally be coming to an end.

Speaking of offensive fireworks, will newly-minted Eagles coach Chip Kelly be able to translate his highly successful spread offense to the pros or will two-time Super Bowl winning coach Mike Shanahan spoil his professional debut?

Kelly’s offense, however, could struggle against the Redskins defense especially with the pending returns of linebacker Brian Orakpo and defensive end Adam Carriker.

Orakpo will rejoin fellow linebackers Ryan Kerrigan, London Fletcher, and Perry Riley to form the best linebacking unit in the league. Fletcher and Riley finished last season in the top-15 in tackles while Kerrigan appeared in his first Pro Bowl.

Other storylines to follow:

–Morris broke the Redskins single-season rushing record in his first year, what will he have for an encore in year two?

–How will the newest members of the team perform in their first regular season games in Burgundy and Gold?

–Tight end Fred Davis was one of Griffin III’s favorite targets before he went down with a season-ending injury in Week 7 last year, will a fully healthy Davis be No. 1o’s go-to-guy once again?

–This is the Redskins second primetime, home opener under Shanahan. In his debut in the Nation’s Capital in 2010, the Redskins defeated the Cowboys 13-7 on Sunday Night Football.

–Same story, different year: Fletcher’s games played streak. Need I say more?

Check back with the blog and website as we will be dissecting each game over the next few weeks as we inch closer to September 9th.

Tell me your thoughts on the schedule as well as the opener at FedExField.